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In developmental psychology and developmental biology, a critical period is a maturational stage in the lifespan of an organism during which the nervous system is especially sensitive to certain environmental stimuli. If, for some reason, the organism does not receive the appropriate stimulus during this "critical period" to learn a given skill ...
While plasticity is evident throughout the human lifespan, it occurs most often at younger ages, during sensitive periods of development. [6] This is a function of synaptic pruning, a mechanism of plasticity where the overall number of neurons and neural pathways are reduced, leaving only the most commonly used—and most efficient—neural ...
The theory has often been extended to a critical period for second-language acquisition (SLA). David Singleton states that in learning a second language, "younger = better in the long run", but points out that there are many exceptions, noting that five percent of adult bilinguals master a second language even though they begin learning it when they are well into adulthood—long after any ...
Language deprivation in deaf and hard-of-hearing children is a delay in language development that occurs when sufficient exposure to language, spoken or signed, is not provided in the first few years of a deaf or hard of hearing child's life, often called the critical or sensitive period. Early intervention, parental involvement, and other ...
A second type of plasticity, experience-expectant plasticity, involves the strong effect of specific experiences during limited sensitive periods of development. [57] For example, the coordinated use of two eyes, and the experience of a single three-dimensional image rather than the two-dimensional images created by each eye, depends on ...
The concept of critical periods is a widely accepted and prominent theme in development, with strong implications for developmental plasticity. Critical periods establish a time frame in which the shaping of neural networks can be carried out. [30]
The Interpersonal World of the Infant (1985) is one of the most prominent works of psychoanalyst Daniel N. Stern, in which he describes the development of four interrelated senses of self. [1] These senses of self develop over the lifespan, but make significant developmental strides during sensitive periods in the first two years of life.
Results from studies indicate that organizational effects are maximized during sensitive periods of brain development. One critical period is weeks 8-24 of gestation. Another sensitive period shortly after birth may exist with a peak in testosterone in male infants during postnatal months 1-5. [14]